Mexican Radio Journalist Shot Dead in Tabasco State

FILE - A man carries a portrait of slain journalist Hector Gonzalez Antonio as his daughter, left, mourns during his funeral in Mexico City, May 31, 2018. The Committee to Protect Journalists says Mexico is the most dangerous country in the Western Hemisphere for media workers.

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Mexican Radio Journalist Shot Dead in Tabasco State

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MEXICO CITY —

A radio news host in Mexico's Gulf Coast state of Tabasco was shot dead Saturday, officials said, marking the second killing of a journalist this year as the country grapples with record violence.

Jesus Eugenio Ramos died of gunshot injuries Saturday morning at a hospital in Emiliano Zapata, the Tabasco prosecutor's office said in a statement. Tabasco Gov. Adan Augusto Lopez said he lamented the loss of the reporter, known locally as "Chuchin," and said his death would be investigated.

"He was a prestigious reporter... a program with a long history in Zapata," he told news outlet Tabasco Hoy (Tabasco Today) in a video posted on Twitter.

Ramos hosted the news program Our Region Today on a local station. He was having breakfast at a hotel near the radio station when he was shot, according to Tabasco Hoy.

Homicides in Mexico jumped by a third to more than 33,000 last year, hitting a record about a decade after the start of a military-led campaign to battle drug trafficking.

Local journalists nationwide have fallen victim to the violence, prompting the Committee to Protect Journalists to classify Mexico as the most dangerous country in the Western Hemisphere for media workers.

Article 19, which defends freedom of expression and access to information, documented the killings of 122 journalists in Mexico since 2000.